Paddy Power delves into long-form content with new Amazon Prime sitcom
Irish bookmaker to premiere four-episode series The VAR Room on Virgin Media in Ireland
Paddy Power is making an ambitious move into long-form content marketing by writing its own sitcom for TV and streaming services.
Entitled The VAR Room, the four-part series will take a tongue-in-cheek look at what happens behind the scenes at Stockley Park – the home of VAR in England and the Premier League.
The sitcom features a star-studded line up with guest appearances from former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg and English football legends Teddy Sheringham and Paul Ince.
The 23-minute programme will make its debut on national TV on Ireland’s Virgin Media Two on 16 June and will continue for the next three consecutive Wednesday evenings.
The VAR Room will then be made available online via Paddy Power’s YouTube channel and is also set to be streamed on Amazon Prime later this month.
Spokesman Paddy Power said: “The shambles at Stockley Park last season gave our brilliantly talented writers enough creative ideas to fuel an entire sitcom series, which Virgin Media and Amazon Prime wanted a piece of too.
“We have long been renowned at Paddy Power for our content – and we really feel we’ve raised the bar with The VAR Room, which we hope is our first sitcom series of many from our team.”
The series has been written by Paddy Power creative content managers Steven Quick and Noel Slevin, who regularly appear in the company’s notorious social media skits.
The content was then created in Manchester, where it was shot by CHIEF, while being directed by Nathan Camponi and produced by Colin Offland.